Edge Of Seventeen
by GunslingerVixen
Summary: .AU. FREAK SHOW. JIMMY / ORIGINAL CHARACTER . What if Elsa Mars had an alterior motive for moving her show to Jupiter Florida? What if there was a bigger reason that the preacher who rented the side show the land wanted the side show to leave town? What if Jimmy stands a chance to get normal and happy love? How is 17 year old Jenny connected to all of this? My summaries suck.
1. Chapter 1

_O - N - E_

* * *

 _She's A Good Girl_

* * *

The sermon seemed to drag on for hours and Jenny tapped her feet impatiently as she painted her fingernails a bright red from the safety of one of the back pews of the church her adoptive father preached at.

She felt a nudge and her friend Grace leaned forward when no one was paying attention and whispered, "So... A few of us girls are goin swimming in that creek down under the bridge.. And then to the side show that's in town. Are you going, Jenny, or are you going to keep on being little Ms. Pristine?"

Jenny's teeth grazed her lower lip as she mulled it over. She had been wanting to go to the side show since it came to town but her adoptive parents banned her from even mentioning it. If she wanted to go, this was practically the only way she'd get to.

"I'm goin too."

"Uh oh.. Good girl going bad." Grace joked as she settled back into her own seat.

Jenny eyed the pulpit and finally, her adoptive father wound down his sermon and not a moment too soon.

She hurried through telling her adoptive mother where she was going and after being told it was okay, she ran over to Grace's car and got in. "So.. Where to first?"

"I thought we'd go to the diner.. They got the soda fountain workin again. And I'm starved." Grace said as she drove the car out of the church parking lot.

* * *

 _Skeletons In The Closet_

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the church parking lot, Norma, the adoptive mother of Jenny, was telling Jenny's adoptive father where she'd let Jenny go, adding calmly, "You never let her do anything. Especially not lately. She's just a teenage girl. If you don't let her have freedom, sooner or later, she'll take it on her own terms. And it will not end well for her. She is a good girl. If you don't let her have just a little freedom, she won't stay a good girl. Remember how I was when we met?"

"Because there is sin in everything, Norma.. You should know this. It's our job, as parents, to protect her from temptation. I cannot believe you let her go off with those girls, Norma. Knowing that woman is in town and if that woman sees her again, she's surely going to know the truth." the man said sternly as he added a few moments later, "And that, Norma, is exactly why she doesn't do any more than she does. Do you think I want our child turning into a little lush like you were then?"

Norma glared at his last remark, the words stinging her, hurting her. Her husband was a stern and disciplinary man, he spoke his mind. Even when it hurt. What he said was truth, but it still hurt that he said it, that he apparently harbored some resentment over Norma's past.

She raised her hand but quickly put it down and said through gritted teeth, in a quiet mumble,"Maybe it's time the truth came out. What we did that night was wrong. The woman barely knew a word of English. We were grieving the loss of our own child. It still doesn't make what we did to that woman any more right. And if she remembers who we are.." Norma gestured to the church, to everything her husband put ahead of his family and their life and well being, his place in the town, the respect he'd earned.. "All of this will be gone. Because you know that woman will make things difficult. Look how she's handled every single time you've tried to run her out of town since you figured out just who she was and why she's really here. The lies.. They're going to come out."

"I've repented. I've done everything I can do to make things right with God. It was a past mistake. One that could destroy us now, and very well might if that woman sees Jenny and figures out just who she is and who we are, if of course she doesn't know already." the man said as he glared at his wife and added through gritted teeth, "And everything I did then was for you, Norma, so you're just as much a culprit as I am. If you even think about telling anyone anything, woman.."

"I won't. I just think that it's a little strange that she shows up here and after seeing Jenny in the yard, she stops and asks if the land behind the house is for rent and said we both looked familiar after doing it.. And that look in her eyes when she said it, also the way she was looking at Jenny.. If I hadn't scolded Jenny and made her go into her room that Mars woman might have figured it out then. And if she had.. God help us both. Do you think I like living with what we did?"

"Well if you don't want to go to jail, woman, you'll shut up and do it. I cannot believe you let Jenny go off with those girls. You know how I feel about the Dupree girl and her other friends.." the man said as he shook his head and glared at his wife disapprovingly. He could feel the anger rising. He stormed away, preferring not to be around his idiot of a wife for the moment.

How could she be so foolish?

She knew exactly why Elsa Mars had to be in town with that abombination of hers, that side show. But apparently, Norma didn't seem to care that Elsa was most likely looking for her daughter, and that if she realized that Jenny was the child she was looking for, they would both have a heavy price to pay. Did she care so little about the life they'd built here in Jupiter that she'd throw it all away like this?

He grumbled and then shook his head as he caught sight of his wife glaring at him from across the parking lot. He'd done what he had that night, he'd taken Jenny from Elsa Mars to save their failing marriage after they lost their own child, a girl that had been a stillbirth. In the end, having taken Jenny only further distanced husband and wife, their marriage was gradually getting worse and harder to endure, but they both loved Jenny and she'd been raised far better than she obviously would have if Elsa had kept her child and they hadn't stolen her.

Never in his wildest dreams had the man thought that his past actions would catch up with him and pose a threat to his nearly perfect present life. He wasn't going to let it happen.

He'd get that sideshow out of his town somehow.

* * *

 _Snow White & Lobsterboy_

* * *

Jenny finished changing her clothes and slicked on bright red lipstick. "Well?" she asked, looking at herself in her friend's silver jeweled compact. Grace took the compact and then said "You look good, Snow White."

"Stop callin me that."

"Stop actin like this prim and proper little lady and get that stick out of your ass, Jenny, and I might." Grace quipped, playfully fluffing her friend's hair.

They got out of the car and walked into the diner. Grace gaped at the strange looking people sitting at tables, eating, totally oblivious of the stares they seemed to be getting, the way people whispered and talked and the way some got up and left in disgust.

"Apparently, Snow White, we're gonna get to meet the freaks before tonight." Grace mused as she eyed the other sole inhabitants of the diner with curiousity and slight wariness.

Jenny, she noticed, was watching a boy who sat at a table quietly, picking at a burger, glaring at everyone around him. She gave her friend a little nudge and snickered. Jenny glared at her and tore her gaze off of the boy for a few moments before asking with a whisper, "We're getting a soda, right?"

"Mhmm. Why not walk over to the guy, Jenny, and say hello?"

"Are you crazy?"

"No, but you're staring."

Jenny happened to look over again to find him watching her a few moments. She noticed the strange gloves over his hands. She bit her lower lip and shook her head as an older lady from Wednesday night services walked by and said loudly, "They'll let anybody eat out in public nowdays, I reckon. Best get home, Jennifer, your father will have a fit if he knows you're in here with the likes of that lot." nodding her head at the strange group of people sitting in the diner now.

Jenny pretended not to hear the woman's stern words but her stomach churned. Would Ms. Kessler go back and tell her father she'd seen her in the diner? The old bat was nothing if not a gossip, Jenny never particularly cared for her in all honesty. "I hate people like that. These people cannot help that they're different." Jenny mumbled as she followed Grace past the table that the young man with the strange gloves on his hands sat at and slid onto a stool near the soda fountain.

Jenny felt eyes on her and she turned around to find the young man staring at her. She gave a smile and a slight wave before turning back around, getting into a conversation with Grace who hissed a few seconds later, "Hey Snow White?"

"Yeah?"

"That guy's lookin over here at you.. And when I say lookin, it's like he's thirsty and you're the only glass of water in the joint. What gives with the gloves, I wonder? And why's he sittin with those other people? The weirdos.." Grace mused.

"The gloves are for my hands, obviously. And the weirdos are my friends. I happen to be one of 'em." Jimmy spoke up from behind them. For a few moments he held the gaze of the blonde with the mouthy red head and then he mumbled something, shook his head and walked away. Jenny glared at Grace who shrugged.

Then she did something she really didn't think she'd ever have the moxie to do. She slid off the stool and walked out of the diner where the young man sat perched on a black motorcycle and she tapped him on the shoulder.

Jimmy turned around and gave her a scowl as he asked, "What? Come out here to call me a freak?"

"Actually, no." Jenny faltered, her hand trailing slowly through her long blondish brown hair as she bit her lower lip, nervous as hell.

She wasn't smooth with the boys like her friends. Her father barely let her do anything and lately, it seemed as if she were a prisoner at home.

Something about that carnival and too much wickedness going on for her to be out in.

"Why'd ya come out then, Blondie?"

"I came out to tell you that I'm sorry for the way Grace and the other idiots are acting. But hey, you're hell bent on writing me off. I'll go back in now." Jenny started to say.

His clawed hand closed around her wrist sort of and she stopped, turned to look at him.

"Why's she call ya Snow White?"

"Because according to her I'm too good." Jenny said as she nodded to the glove on his clawed hand and asked, "Why do you wear that?"

"You don't wanna see." Jimmy said as he stared at her lips intently for a few moments. If he knew she wouldn't scream and run or something like all the other girls did, he'd take off the glove.. But for just a little longer, damn it, he wanted to pretend to be a normal guy talking to a pretty girl.

"What's your name?" she asked him a few moments later when she realized she wasn't getting an answer to her previous question.

"It's Jimmy.. Jimmy Darling."

"Jenny. My name's Jenny." Jenny said as she smiled a little and then asked, "Do you wanna come back inside?"

"You sure your friend won't get a pitchfork after me and my friends?" Jimmy asked warily, eying Jenny, wondering why she was even bothering with it, being nice. She knew that he was with the freaks inside the diner, yet she was still out here talking to him.

 _And if she saw his hands_ , he thought to himself, _she'd be gone too_.

"I'll tell her to put a lid on it." Jenny promised as she stood there, waiting on Jimmy to walk back into the diner with her.

Jimmy slid off his motorcycle and walked back into the diner with Jenny, slid onto a seat next to her at the counter, down from the soda fountain.

"Good for you, Snow White. Come outta that ivory tower Daddy's got you locked up in." Grace said with a mischevious smile as she slid a cherry cola float to Jenny, turned to Jimmy and said "About before,sorry."

"Don't matter." Jimmy said gruffly as he eyed Grace with a wary look.

Jenny dug into her ice cream float and then dug around, found a cherry, eating it as she asked Jimmy, "So, Jimmy.. How do you like Jupiter so far?"

"It's your usual small town I guess." Jimmy shrugged as he watched her, brow raised. She pulled the stem from the cherry out of her mouth and held it out. The stem was tied in a knot. Jenny shrugged and Grace announced proudly, "Show off.. Forget to mention I taught ya how to do that."

"I learned, Grace, by myself. You just showed me an easier way to do it." Jenny grumbled as she rolled her eyes. Sometimes having Grace as a best friend really annoyed her, but Grace was the kind of friend who always had your back no matter what.

She definitely had her faults, however, and one of them was her penchant for finding trouble for both of them to get into. Jenny's father hated Grace.

Jenny personally felt like her father hated anyone who came between Jenny and him. And sometimes, it creeped Jenny out just a little.

"So, Jimmy.. Feel up to going for a swim?"

" Gotta get back to the campground. The show starts tonight." Jimmy said as he held Jenny's gaze a few moments and then winked at her, sticking the cherry stem into the pocket of his chambray work shirt as he asked her, "Are you two comin?"

"Actually, yeah." Jenny said as she smiled a little.

Jimmy grumbled as he heard his name being called by the others in his group, then he said quietly, "Gotta get going. Gotta go set up for the show. I'll see you tonight though."

"I'll be there." Jenny said as she watched him walking out, sipping the soda that remained in the bottom of her cherry cola float. She felt Grace staring at her and turned to look at Grace, asked with a raised brow, "What?"

"That guy, Jenny?"

"Yes, Grace, that guy. He's sweet. There's nothin wrong with making friends, right?"

"Yeah, well.. If your daddy finds out, Jenny.."

"Then I'll deal with him. I'm getting fed up with his rules and regulations and the way he treats me like a prisoner, damn it. I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do." Jenny mused as the two girls slid off their stools, walked back out and got into Grace's car, drove to the bridge, parking down below.

* * *

 _A Painful Secret_

* * *

Elsa sat in the main sitting area of her trailer looking at a badly faded square of paper. Her eyes darted from the paper in her hands to the newspaper she had taped to the wall. "Reverend's daughter my ass. That girl is mine. And that so called reverend stole her. And he thinks his dirty little secret's gonna stay hidden if he runs us out. We'll just see about that."

She thought about the brief glimpse she'd gotten of her little girl as a young woman of 17. A softer version of her usual smug smirk crept onto her face and she muttered quietly, "Soon.. Everything is gonna be alright. One way or another, that girl is gonna know the truth before I leave this hole in the earth town."

Ma Petite came into the room and Elsa hurriedly hid the paper. She didn't want anyone knowing that they actually had a reason for coming to Jupiter other than the show. Her private life, she felt, was just that. Her own personal cross to bear.

But the day that was approaching, the one where she hopefully got reunited with a child she'd had ripped from her arms practically, well.. And she'd wanted this to happen for so long now she could taste it.

"Are you alright, Ms. Elsa?"

"I'm fine, Ma Petite. Give me that flask, would ya?" Elsa asked as she stubbed out a cigarette, sat up on her velveteen covered couch and stretched, asked Ma Petite, "Did everyone make it in from town yet? The show starts tonight, we need to be getting prepared."

"They're coming in now, Ms. Elsa."

"Good." Elsa smiled confidently, uncapping the dainty silver flask and taking a long pull from it. "We've got work to do."

Ma Petite smiled and started to get Elsa ready for their big opening night.


	2. Chapter 2

_T-W-O_

* * *

 _Deja Vu & A Crush_

* * *

The bright lights and the jaunty music greeted Jenny as she and Grace and two other friends got out of Grace's car, made their way through the small crowd towards the side show tent. Grace looked at Jenny's borrowed red and white dress and then with a laugh said "Oh for the love of God, girl, would you relax? It's just a boy."

"I know, but.. I'm not used to wearing the heels.. And this makeup. Was it really necessary, Grace, to make me up like some kind of hooker?" Jenny complained as the girls paid their entry fee and made their way into the tent.

Jenny saw the woman on stage singing a song and she gaped a few moments. There was this strong sense of deja vu, almost as if she'd seen the woman somewhere before or something, or at the very least, there was this connection there.

She stood there, transfixed on the main stage, so when Jimmy tapped her shoulder, she jumped a foot into the air, almost. She turned around and a scarlet blush crept upward, she shuffled her feet awkwardly.

Grace and her friends giggled and Grace spoke up with a wink, "Thank me later." to Jimmy who looked at Grace a few moments before fixing his attention on an apparently all dressed up Jenny who looked nervous as hell currently.

Jimmy chuckled and said quietly, "So you came after all, huh?"

"I said I would earlier, Jimmy." Jenny said as she smiled up at him. A crowd of people came walking past and she found herself shoved against Jimmy. Jimmy kept her steady as he laughed and asked casually, "You don't really relax, do ya?"

"I snuck out here tonight. If my dad finds out I'm here, he'll flip." Jenny explained, her hand dragging slowly through her hair as she tilted her head to one side to look up at a much taller -and muscular she couldn't help but notice it- Jimmy.

"And ya never snuck out before?" Jimmy asked, brow raised, chuckling a little when her sheepish look pretty much confirmed it. He noticed that she wasn't flinching away from him like most girls, hell, all girls seemed to, and he wasn't wearing his gloves.

Jenny looked at her arms, saw his fingers, bit her lower lip and looked up at him a few moments as she asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Nah.. All it is is they're stuck together. I barely notice. Other people though.. Kinda scares the hell out of 'em." Jimmy answered as he smiled at her and then asked, " Wanna walk around with me?"

"Yeah, I'd like that. Crap.. It's Ms. Mott and her weird son." Jenny grumbled as the flaming red hair of Gloria Mott came into view. She ducked behind Jimmy and Jimmy laughed, asked her "Who's the guy?"

"That guy, Jimmy, is Dandy Mott. An all around creep. He's older, a friend of mine went on a date with him once and said he's got a mommy thing. Said that the entire time they were out, his mother stuck around, just glaring at her in this jealous way or something. Thinks he's god or somethin because he's got a lot of dough." Jenny explained as she hid her face in his back and asked, "He's gone now right?"

"Not yet.. Wanna walk out of the tent until he is?"

"I'd appreciate it, yeah.. Ms. Mott is the biggest gossip in town, if my father finds out I'm here, he'll flip out. I barely get to get outta the house now as it is." Jenny said quietly as she bit her lower lip and let Jimmy lead her out of the tent's side opening.

Once they were outside, Jenny and Jimmy both started to laugh and Jenny admitted, "My mom and Ms. Mott are friends.. They keep tryin to set me up with Dandy but the guy scares the hell out of me, honestly."

"I can see why. He's over there now talking to the Tattler twins. They're a new act." Jimmy explained as he stepped back a little, let Jenny peer into the tent to see the twins.

"I bet they argue a lot. I know I'd be mad, having to share a body with someone all the time. No privacy." Jenny mused as Jimmy laughed a little, shook his head and asked, "So.. How old are you?"

"Seventeen.. Almost eighteen though." Jenny said quickly, staring into his eyes a few moments, distracted. It was odd really, she didn't even notice his fingers and hands. To her, he was pretty much a normal guy.

And probably the first one to really catch her attention and hold it for longer than the usual attention span of a teenage girl. There was just something about him, he gave off warmth and safety, stability.

A man, in other words. Not just a boy like the ones she attended school with that annoyed her.

"So, did ya have fun swimmin earlier?" Jimmy asked, remembering Jenny mentioned swimming back at the diner when he'd met her.

"Actually, I did. I got the nerve to dive off that bridge and into the water." Jenny admitted, biting her lower lip. He had to think she was a real square, a goody two shoes. But she was too afraid of truly making her adoptive father angry to try and dare breaking any of his rules.

Until tonight.

But she'd wanted to go to the show since it came to town, just to see what it was like.

"The woman singing.. What's her name?" Jenny asked quietly, thinking about the odd sense of familiarity she felt when she'd seen her upon entering the tent.

"Elsa Mars." Jimmy said as he added, "Some of the others were sayin she's here for personal reasons, not just to stop at random with the show." and raked his hand through his hair, amazed at how well the conversation seemed to be going so far, how she didn't seem to pull away or flinch in fear.

Maybe she just wanted to be his friend, he mused to himself for a moment before asking her, "Why?"

"Just wondering, it was weird.. Like I saw her and I got this really really sense of deja vu, like I'd seen her before." Jenny admitted, shrugging as she added quickly, "But it's probably just a flyer or something."

"Maybe so." Jimmy said quietly as he noticed her rubbing her arms. "Cold?"

"A little. I wanted to wear a sweater with this damned dress but Grace said it would spoil the whole look." Jenny said as she looked up at Jimmy and admitted, "I really don't dress like this a lot."

" The dress ya had on earlier was prettier. But you're pretty now." Jimmy blurted, adding the last bit in quickly so she didn't get upset or something. He mentally kicked himself, he was making a friend, possibly and there he went, messing it up.

"I'm not." Jenny insisted as she took the denim shirt Jimmy held out to her and put it on, bundling into it a little. In her mind she could hear Grace taunting her about having to 'hide' her body under the damned cardigans she wore all the time.

But sometimes, the way her adoptive father looked at her, not to mention one or two of the other boys at school, well.. It made her uncomfortable. Even if the boys did look at all the other girls like that too and it meant nothing.

Jenny still didn't really like it.

"You are." Jimmy insisted as they sat down at a picnic table away from the performers tent. He leaned back, looked up at the sky.

Jenny sat down on the table top next to him, pointed upward and said quietly, "That's the Big Dipper I think."

Jimmy nodded and noticed to himself that Jenny seemed to be leaning in just a little. He brushed hair back behind her ear and smiled, giving her a playful wink. Jenny blushed a little and bit her lower lip. It was a distracting habit she had, biting her lower lip. It made him stare at it, wonder what it'd be like to kiss a normal girl.. But he didn't dare try because if he did, she might just run.. Or laugh at him.

For all he knew, this could just be rebellion or something. She had mentioned having to sneak out tonight to see the show.

Maybe the whole innocent girl thing was an act, something she did when she was bored. In any case, Jimmy didn't want to push his luck with her because so far things were nice. She wasn't gawking at his hands or squirming if their bodies brushed against each other.

"There you two are." Grace said as she stepped out into view and then said "We're gonna go in a few minutes.. But the woman who owns this show was asking about you earlier or something, she seemed to want to talk to you or meet you."

"Already?"

"Paulette will flip if I don't get her car back to her in an hour. Big sisters." Grace said as she shrugged and then with a laugh said, " We'll come back later this week."

"How? My father will pretty much ban me from leaving the house after having been gone tonight."

"So sneak out, girl.. You're the one who said you're sick of being stuck there and having him dictate what you will and won't do. If you wanna see Jimmy here, sneak out. I'll bring ya." Grace said with a laugh.

Jimmy's gaze shifted to Jenny who seemed to be mulling it over, giving it heavy consideration which in turn gave him just a little sliver of hope.

"I think I know how I can do it." Jenny said finally, smiling and blushing a little when she realized that Jimmy had actually sort of been staring at her as if he were hoping she'd say she'd come back but afraid she'd say that she wouldn't.

"Good, so that's settled.. That woman sent me out to find ya." Grace said as she tapped her foot, waiting on Jimmy and Jenny to get off the table.

Jenny stood reluctantly and then Jimmy followed, the three of them going back inside the performance tent.

* * *

 _Mother and Daughter_

* * *

"Where the hell did that red haired girl go, Egypt?" Elsa demanded impatiently as she watched the opening in the tent. A red haired woman and her dark haired son were walking around, the boy, Elsa noticed, seemed a bit infatuated with the Tattler twins.

The woman, a Ms. Gloria Mott, had approached Elsa earlier about buying the twins for her son. At first Elsa gawked at the idea, but if things got harder, if they didn't get any more people in their shows than this every night, she might have to resort to extreme measures and do it as much as the idea unnerved her.

There was something about that kid, he made her skin crawl. But Elsa was a business woman first and foremost.

The teenage girls came through the tent's opening finally, and Elsa saw Jimmy in tow. She gave him a look and then mumbled to herself just before the girls reached where she stood, 'I suppose it's not entirely a bad thing.'

"I found her, Ms. Mars."

Elsa smiled as she got another look, a better look at her daughter, practically grown up now. She smiled and mused quietly, "You look just how I thought you'd look."

Jenny raised a brow and looked at the woman then asked, "Have we met?"

"Have we met.. I'm your mother, girl."

Grace coughed and gaped at her friend a moment. She knew, of course, that Jenny had been adopted.. But she hadn't seen this one coming, not even a little. It shocked her.

It shocked Jenny too because she sort of swayed a moment and back into Jimmy's arms she went.

"I tell her she's my little girl and she faints. At least she doesn't hate me, I suppose. What are you looking at, Jimmy? Get Ma Petite to get my smelling salts from my trailer. I'll take her."

Jimmy stared a few moments, stunned. He'd never thought in a million years that someone like Elsa Mars would be a mother. Had she given Jenny away? Something told him there was much more to the story than met the eye than that. Finally, he left and went to get the smelling salts.

Jenny came to and Elsa laughed and said calmly, "Now that's out of the way, girl.. I've looked all over for you."

"How? What? I'm so confused right now.. I know I'm adopted.. Which means you had to willingly sign the paperwork.. Right?" Jenny asked, confused. She studied the older blonde woman warily, not sure whether to believe her or whether the woman was just playing some sort of joke.

"Not necessarily, no. Those parents of yours, Jenny.. They used the fact that I was an immigrant, fresh off the boat and knew little to no English against me. Then they left town before I was released from the hospital, after everything was made official." Elsa said as she studied the teenage girl.

She couldn't help but wonder.. How would she have been as a mother? Especially considering she knew she'd still have become the owner of this side show. How would she have fared raising Jenny with the constant moving around? Exposing her to the life of a traveling side show?

She might be finding out because she'd come to Jupiter for one reason and one reason only. To confront the couple that stole her child and take her child back. Or at least bond with her child and make sure the couple paid for their crimes.

"They.. No, not my dad.. He's the reverend at the church. He won't even let me stay up past 8." Jenny said as she tried to get her head around all that this woman claimed. Looking at Elsa Mars, however, she couldn't deny. They had to be related somehow.

And the woman had sort of drawn her attention when she'd gotten to the show tonight, there had been this sense of familiarity about her.

"Yes, well, maybe Mom and Dad aren't quite as forthcoming as they claim to be. That man is a thief. He stole you from me." Elsa insisted.

"Why didn't you confront him when you rented the land?" Jenny asked as she studied the woman, still shocked by this whole bizarre turn of events.

"Because, Jenny, if I had, they'd probably have taken you and ran again."

And suddenly, her parents strange behavior the night Elsa came to rent the land made absolute sense. They hadn't been worried that the sin might rub off or something.

They'd been trying to hide their own sin.

Jenny said a few choice words that made Grace gape at her and Elsa laugh a little and muse aloud, "I see you've gotten my quick temper."

Jimmy came back and then asked Jenny in concern, "Are you okay?"

"She's fine. You, on the other hand, boy. You should be helping put things away." Elsa said as she looked from Jimmy to Jenny and realized that Jenny was wearing Jimmy's chambray work shirt.

"I'm okay, Jimmy.. Just angry right now, I've never been this angry at anyone before. How could they have done this to me? To my real mother? It disgusts me." Jenny fumed as Jimmy chuckled, stopped her pacing around and said quietly, "It's gonna be okay.. Maybe now you can get to know her, huh?"

"If they think I'm not coming to the show again before it leaves they've both lost their right minds." Jenny said firmly as she bit her lower lip and turned her attention to Elsa, adding quietly, "I've always sort of wondered about you.. Like no matter what my father told me.."

"That man is not your father, of that I can assure you." Elsa interjected, falling silent again, letting Jenny finish her statement.

"I just sort of knew that some of the things he said had to have been lies. I didn't feel unwanted. I know that's weird, but whenever he goes into his anger fits and tells me that my obedience is me being grateful for him choosing to take me in, that my real mother wanted no part of me.. Something in me always insisted he was wrong." Jenny said as she bit her lower lip, trailed her fingers through her hair.

Elsa smiled a little, but the smile was quickly gone and she was all business again, pointing out, "You girls should be getting back to wherever you're going. I hope, Jenny, that you'll come back and see me again."

"I'd love to."

"She's coming back to see Jimmy too." Grace mocked Jenny's dreamy tone of voice when she'd talked about Jimmy earlier in the day, swooning dramatically.

Elsa laughed a few seconds and then said "Both of you go now. There is a curfew and it's already well an hour past. And the last damn thing I need is to worry about where you are." as she stood in front of Jenny a few moments, debating on whether a hug was appropriate just yet.

To err on the side of caution, she settled for brushing her daughter's hair out of her eyes and saying quietly, "You've grown so much. Yet you're exactly how I pictured you."

"I.. Thanks?" Jenny questioned, managing a smile before finally being pulled away by Grace who said "We gotta get going, Jenny. Or Paulette's going to send the entire Christing army after her beloved car. And you want to tell loverboy goodbye."

"He.."

"No arguments, Jenny. You get so flustered around him, it's really cute. I need to see sweet things, okay? One of us, damn it, is gonna have a good thing happen."

"Okay, alright."

They stepped out of the tent to find Jimmy standing there, deep in thought. Jenny smiled and said quietly, "I guess I'll see you later this week?"

"I hope so. I like talkin to ya." Jimmy admitted, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck as he looked at her intently.

What would it be like to kiss those lips, he found himself wondering again.

She hugged him and held out his chambray work shirt, said quietly, "Thanks. It kept me warm."

"Any time." Jimmy teased, flirting a little, sort of testing the waters but daring not to get his hopes up in that regard.

After all, she might have been just using him or something. Most girls either ran like hell or got their one use out of him and left without a goodbye. He didn't know anything else, he didn't dare hope it would get any better.

He watched her walking away a few moments and then turned to find Elsa standing there, looking at him. "Now you know." Elsa said simply as Jimmy nodded and then waited on her to tell him he wasn't good enough for her daughter.

Instead, Elsa said casually, " I suppose if it has to be someone, better you than the other boys I've seen in this damned town. Especially that Mott boy I met earlier." before turning on her heels and walking back into the tent.

Jimmy shook his head and set off for his own trailer.

Today had been a decent day. He didn't really have those too often.

* * *

Thanks to my two reviewers YellowBrickQueen and Guest for the reviews and kind words! I hope you guys enjoy this in the long run, it's just a pesky what if type thing I got while Freak Show was still in progress. Things will change a lot. But there will be a lot of the stuff from the show in here too! Should I write Maggie out? Or have her in? I hated her to be honest.

Strong possibility of !MomElsa as far as OOC instances. Other than that, I'm going to do my damndest to make sure everyone else is as IC as I can get them. I just hope I'm doing them justice. Jenny is a bit of a goody two shoes / awkward nerd type, but she'll come out of her shell and make actual progress as a character as the story gets deeper. So she's hopefully not reading too much like a Sue right now. There is a reason she's such a good girl, trust me. It'll come out too, sooner or later.


	3. INTERMISSION ONE

_INTERMISSION ONE  
_

* * *

 _DESPERATION_

 _(Takes Place During the Previous Chapter)_

* * *

" _You should know, Reverend.. I saw Jennifer at the diner. She was with those disgusting sinful creatures. One of 'em, a boy.. He was sittin right there at the counter near the soda fountain with her." the aging widow said quietly as she held the gaze of the reverend. He sighed and shook his head, muttered something to the effect of that he was afraid of that, she'd been becoming increasingly difficult to handle lately, his stolen teenage daughter had._

 _The mouthing off, the clothes and the makeup, those friends of hers who were obviously bad influences, but not the only problem he had to deal with now. "I thank you for telling me, Ms. Kessler." William said as he sighed quietly, shook his head._

 _When the widow was gone, satisfied with herself and her actions and no doubt now going to spread the latest gossip around town, William thought as he scowled to himself, he stood and walked down the hallway and into the living room, turning off the radio. Norma looked up, her hand on her cheek, stunned when he slapped her and he said quietly, "I hope you're satisfied now, woman. Our daughter is out there tonight, probably with that damned side show. Everything I did for you, for us.. And you repay me by letting our daughter go out, risking the secret coming out, being exposed. And she was with one of those damned boys in the show according to Ms. Kessler."_

" _I don't see what's so bad about those people, William.. Or any of her friends, for that matter. Jenny's a good girl, if that Mars woman tries to tell her what happened, she might not believe her. But that's not all that bothers you, is it? It's more along the lines, William, of her being with a boy.. And not right here, in this house, with you."_

 _William growled._

 _Norma held his gaze and said casually, "I've thought about turning myself in for what we did every single day since we did it. That woman could have been a mother. She might have had a better life, a happier life.. But we took Jenny from her and we've gotten off scott free until now. Maybe this needs to come out. On Monday, William, I'm going to the station. If for nothing more than my own piece of mind.. You think I don't notice it, do you?" as she gave William a penetrative and jealous stare._

" _See what, woman? What are you going on about now?"_

" _The way you watch her. The way you won't let her do anything. The way you get when she acts like she might even be a little interested in a boy her own age.. Like that summer she met that boy at camp and you found out and took her out of camp, bought her home and practically kept her locked away in her room. You want her, William, and it's eating at you that you can't have her. You disgust me. I disgust myself, actually. But Monday, William, it all ends. Everything is coming out and that girl is getting the hell away from you." Norma hissed angrily as she stepped back when he started towards her._

" _SHUT UP!"_

" _ITS TRUE!AND YOU KNOW IT, WILLIAM. DON'T YOU DARE QUOTE SCRIPTURE TO ME. DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AT ME AND TRY TO LIE YOU MONSTER, I SEE IT IN THOSE EYES OF YOURS EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU LOOK AT JENNY. SHE'S BETTER OFF AWAY FROM YOU YOU SICK DISGUSTING PIG."_

 _Norma turned and went to leave the stairwell she'd been standing on, they'd been moving the argument upstairs, or she'd been trying to get away from him rather, his eyes, the look in them were really scaring her, something in him had snapped when the side show and Elsa showed up in town and he'd been going from just an asshole lately to borderline scary as hell._

 _She felt his hand on her back, hard and then about a minute later, her world went black._

 _As soon as William realized what he'd done, he paled and bent, throwing up. His wife lie at the foot of the stairs, eyes wide open in this horrified gaze. He stared at his shaking hands in shock for a few moments and after a few moments, he mumbled numbly, "I have to get rid of the one can know I've done this. I just.. I got so angry, you kept saying those things, you kept pushing me. You made me do this. "_

 _He made his way down the stairs and grimacing, he picked up his wife and under the cover of night, he made his way out to the garden compost, put her there, carefully, covered the area in gasoline and struck a match. Tears streamed down his face as he watched the fire and three or four times, he threw up from the stench._

 _When the fire had taken care of the evidence, he walked back into the house and after gathering all the necessary cleaning supplies, he uncapped the bottle of cognac and took a healthy sip. Then he cleaned the bloodstain in the hallway at the foot of the stairs until the floors sparkled._

 _Nobody would ever know what happened to Norma. He'd make sure of that._

 _Just like he'd make sure nothing came between him and Jenny, the girl he'd stolen for Norma when she was so eaten up with grief she couldn't even get out of bed._

" _And when Jenny comes home, I'll just have to lock her in her room until I figure something out about getting that show out of town. Because that boy will not have her. If I can't have her to myself, here, nobody will. She's mine. Not that disgusting whore of a birth mother, not this disgusting boy who's very existance is a crime against humanity and God and no doubt a result of his own parents sinful natures." William said quietly, confidently, as if he were assuring himself that all of this was the right thing to do._

 _Deep down, of course, the more rational part of the man knew he'd just committed a huge transgression, and that he was totally wrong, and that all of this was going to come out now, all of his ugliness was going to be exposed to everyone, but something in the man had snapped._

 _Around midnight, he'd come up with the perfect cover. He'd go to the station tomorrow and report Norma missing. With all the kidnappings lately, nobody would ever figure out what happened. If anyone got suspicious, he'd go to the station and recant his statement, he'd tell them Norma left him and went to live with her family in Chicago._

 _All of his secrets, he thought, would stay hidden now. They had to. He had entirely too much at stake for anything to come out, for all of his past crimes to surface._

* * *

Thanks to my three reviewers YellowBrickQueen and Guest for the reviews and kind words! I hope you guys enjoy this in the long run, it's just a pesky what if type thing I got while Freak Show was still in progress. Things will change a lot. But there will be a lot of the stuff from the show in here too! Should I write Maggie out? Or have her in? I hated her to be honest.

This chapter is taking place while Jenny is enjoying the show/being reunited with her mother Elsa. All of this takes place BEFORE the arrival of Dell Toledo and Desiree Dupree, by the way. I'm trying to stick as close to the timeline set forth in the show as I can. This is the first of two interludes I've written for this story so far. :)

I've had one vote to leave Maggie out entirely, not counting my own opinion on the matter, of course. If you think otherwise, let me know, please? I don't wanna offend or annoy anyone.


	4. Chapter 3

T – H – R – E – E

 _Run Home Girl_

* * *

As soon as she walked back into her adoptive parents house, she knew something was up, she could just feel the tension in the air. Her stomach churned nervously as she walked through the hallway. Her father called her into his study and looked up from the sermon he'd been preparing for that coming Wednesday.

"I give you rules for a reason."

"All I did, sir, was go with Grace. Everybody else in this god forsaken town gets to have a life, sir. Norma said it was alright." Jenny snapped before she could stop herself.

The angry glow in the man's eyes when he looked up at her sent a chill down her spine and when he stood, walked towards her, she got a very, very bad feeling.

"You're not everybody else. We have an image, a place in the community to uphold. And when Widow Kessler came to me yesterday evening and told me she saw you in that diner with those abombinations, those freaks.." her father said as he shook his head. His finger trailed slowly over her lower lip and he said in a disappointed voice, "You've been a good girl until now."

"At least you're admitting it." Jenny said as she shrank back from the man's strange touches, stepping out of his reach, but not quickly enough. Her eyes widened and she asked in a shaky voice, "Where's Norma?"

"You mean Mother. Because she is your mother. And I am your father.. That's why it hurts me to have to do this." the man stated as he grabbed her arm.

Jenny saw the look in his eye and she didn't think, she just ran. She could hear him calling her name from the house but she didn't care. She hid in the shed behind the garden for at least an hour be fore he stopped calling her name, and thinking the coast was clear, she stepped out of the shed.

As soon as she did, she was picked up, carried into the house and thrown into her room. A lock clicked and her adoptive father called through the door, "You should start repenting now. Because if I find out anything transpired between you and that boy, Jenny. Or that you went to that side show after I told you not to go.. You won't like what I do to you."

She glared at the door, her hand on her cheek, stunned. He'd always been a bit of a possessive and controlling, heavy on the discipline kind of parent, but he hadn't lain a hand on her until now. Something had to have happened between the time she left yesterday after the service and this afternoon, when she came home from school. She knew Ms. Kessler spied on her, told her father about seeing her talk to Jimmy Darling. But there was more to it than that, because her adoptive father looked..He looked crazy or something.

Angrier than she'd ever seen the man look in her entire life. It hit her then.. Her adoptive mother's car was still sitting in the driveway. Normally, if her adoptive mother was in the house, she was either in the kitchen or sitting in the living room, reading or listening to the radio if her adoptive father wasn't home.

She'd smelled the whiskey on her adoptive father's breath too.

And the look of desperation in his eyes wasn't hard to miss. Did he know who Elsa Mars was? Had Elsa confronted him between last night and now?

Something told Jenny her birth mother was much smarter and stealthier than that, she wouldn't show her hand until she got damn ready to play it.

Jenny slid off the bed and made her way to the door, tried it. Yeah, she was locked in. She beat on the window and all that happened was that her adoptive father came to the door and told her if she didn't pipe down in there, he was coming in and she'd really be sorry then.

The window.. If she was getting the hell away from her adoptive father, that was pretty much her only way out. She wasn't sure why, really, because he'd actually done nothing other than the slap, the locking her in her room..

But before, he hadn't done anything like that. Yeah, he'd tell her she was an ungrateful child, that she ought to thank him for taking her in.

Having met her birth mother the night before, she wasn't entirely sure she thanked him now, to be quite honest. The whole story her birth mother Elsa told her made her sick.. To think that her adoptive father would do something like that.

To think that her adoptive mother would let him do something like that and just keep the secret.

The anger rose in her and she worked the window open, then she threw some of her things into a bag and after tossing the bag down, she tossed down her shoes and slid down the drain pipe on the side of the house, picking up bag and shoes and making a run for the woods that seperated the house from the campground that her birth mother's side show was currently inhabiting.

"I've just got this bad feeling.. I shouldn't be there.. Something was off at that house." Jenny told herself as she stopped for a few moments to catch her breath, take stock of what she'd just done.

She'd come way out of her shell in the matter of a few hours.

Just yesterday around this time, her biggest worry was whether or not she'd pass the math test she had at school on Friday. Now she had all sorts of new things to worry about.

Like how her adoptive father just looked off just then.

She stepped through the heavy brush and trees seperating the campground from her house and looked around. She spotted the small child sized woman that seemed to follow her birth mother pretty much everywhere and walked over, asked breathlessly, "I need to talk to Elsa."

Ma Petite studied the teenage girl carefully and then remembered what Jimmy said earlier about the girl, about her being Elsa's real daughter or something and she said quietly, "She's in her trailer."

"Which one is that?"

"That one. I'll take you." Ma Petite said as she eyed the teen girl warily. Before she had a chance to lead her to Elsa's trailer, however, Jimmy spotted Jenny and walked over, smiling.

Until he saw the look on Jenny's face.

"What's wrong, huh?"

"My adoptive father, he's being really, really creepy. I just got a bad feeling when I went home." Jenny said as she caught her breath, rubbed her arms.

Sirens and police cars sped past the campground towards her house and she gaped a few moments. Should she go back? Were the cars going to her house for her? Or had her adoptive father done something to her mother?

"Your cheek's kinda swelled." Jimmy observed as he looked around, grabbed her hand and said quietly, "C'mon.." as he looked at her in concern.

Jenny nodded and followed Jimmy and Ma Petite into her birth mother's small trailer, putting her things down on the burgundy velveteen sofa along one wall of the trailer, just taking a few deep breaths. A few moments later, she heard her mother's laugh, heard the door closing.

Elsa looked at her teenage daughter and asked quietly, "What happened, girl?"

"I had to get out of there, okay? I can't.. I can't explain it, I just had this really, really bad feeling." Jenny admitted quietly as she looked up at her birth mother and then added, "This is the first place I thought to come to."

"Well, then, that's good, girl." Elsa said as she asked, "Was it that pig your so called mother calls a husband?"

"Yes. He was acting weird."

"Between this and things that happened last night, girl, it's been one hell of a day for Momma." Elsa said as she sipped from a flask, trying to take in this mother and daughter moment they were having, concerned for Jenny, overwhelmed by the fact that she was as concerned and invested as she was all things considered.

"What happened last night?"

"A detective came, tried to arrest the twins. They know those girls are innocent, they just wanna run us out. Anyway, let's just say that the detective and Jimmy had a little disagreement, it's nothin you need to worry about, girl. Now you tell me what happened, I want all of it." Elsa asked, looking at her teenage daughter firmly, worried.

If that so called good reverend had done something to her little girl, there was no limit to what she'd do to the man when she got her hands on him.

"He locked me in my room. Apparently, some woman from the church saw me when I met Jimmy at the diner yesterday afternoon, went back and told him. And he's always been weird about me.. But lately, it's just gotten worse or something. Anyway, I mouthed off, we fought, I ran out and hid, he found me, took me to my room and locked me in. Then I went out a window and came straight here. Something wasn't right, I just got this really bad feeling." Jenny said quietly as she looked up and at her birth mother.

"You'll stay here. That man won't dare step foot on this land, not with the proof I have, not with everything I could use to bury him and his reputation here."

"Did you know them before they took me?"

Elsa sighed and went back in her mind, answering quietly a few moments later, "I did."

* * *

L O

 _Betrayed (Flashback)_

* * *

 _Elsa looked around the dock as she stepped off the boat. Her back was killing her and she was convinced that if she ever got onto a boat again it would truly be a miracle. Her wide and youthful brown eyes darted around the docks, looking, waiting._

 _She felt a light kick to her abdoment and she laughed a little, a softer laugh. Elsa was a softer girl currently, motherhood will do that to a woman. "We're home, little one." she muttered quietly. As soon as she got the chance, she started to walk down a crowded street and the smell of food from a cafe lured her in._

 _She had no money to pay for the food, however, when she'd fled Germany to start a new life with her baby girl here in the United States, she'd had to leave practically everything behind. And it hadn't been cheap to gain illegal passage on the boat she'd taken to get here, either._

 _The necklace her beloved Massimo gave her had to be hocked, she'd cried nearly two nights over that one. First she lost Massimo, then she lost the only thing she had left that he'd given her. She dabbed at her eyes with a napkin._

 _A waitress, Norma, according to her nametag, made her way over and asked "Do you want something to eat?"_

 _Elsa didn't have very good english, you see, so Elsa had to point to the menu, then she had to try to say what she wanted. It was easy for the waitress to see that Elsa was new to the country, that perhaps, she might not be aware of the American ways just yet._

 _A lightbulb went off in the young waitresses head and she sat down, asking Elsa in almost perfect German what her name was, when she'd arrived and how far along she was with her expectant motherhood._

 _For a few moments, as Norma asked about the baby Elsa carried inside of her, she felt a twinge of jealousy. For a month or so earlier, Norma had lost her own baby, a stillborn girl._

 _And things in her life hadn't been the same since._

 _When Elsa heard the woman speaking nearly perfect German, her face lit up, she felt a little more at ease. This Elsa, of course, was younger, more quick to believe that while she'd had very bad things happen to her, the loss of both of her legs being one, there was still a little good. So she was happy that she seemed to have the fortune to find a woman who spoke the mother tongue._

 _She found out from this woman that there was a job at the diner she sat in currently, but for now, there was this halfway house for women who were in need. That the woman who ran her apartment complex ran it. And all she had to do was sign some papers and she'd get all sorts of assistance including citizen ship._

 _Had Elsa been the Elsa she became when she grew older, after life kicked her and continued kicking her after she'd fallen down, she'd have known there was a catch to everything and she'd never have signed the papers._

 _Elsa spoke in perfect German that if it meant a roof over her head, food for her mouth and a roof and food for her unborn child, she'd do whatever it took and asked how quickly she could sign the papers, not wanting the Americans to find out she was here illegally._

 _Norma felt guilty as she did it, but this woman..In the end, Norma's jealousy at Elsa's being with child won out and Norma explained that for the time being, Elsa could room with herself and her husband, William. And that when the time came, they'd go to take her to sign all the necessary papers._

 _For a few moments, Norma's heart soared, the thought that she'd have another chance to be a mother, to save the marriage that was rapidly failing. Then the guilt set in, the horror of what she was even considering doing sank in and for a moment, she almost called it off._

 _But she didn't and Elsa lived with the Millers for nearly 2 months. All the while, the Millers were going around, going behind Elsa's back and getting documents ready alright.. Documents that would have Elsa's newly born child snatched practically from her arms as soon as it was born._

 _When they discovered what she left behind in Germany, thanks to a friend of theirs who dabbled in investigative work and did a little black market smuggling on the side, they quickly decided that this woman could not possibly be a mother for the unborn child._

 _The couple was convinced they were doing a good thing for the child, they were convinced that things would be alright again._

 _They befriended Elsa, and all seemed well. And then Elsa went into labor. And as soon as the baby was born, and Elsa held her in her arms, Norma held out the papers. Elsa signed them and thanked the couple in German repeatedly. But when the nurse came and took the baby away and Elsa heard what the woman, Norma was telling the woman in the little bit of English she'd managed to learn the past few months in America, she was horrified._

 _When she got out of the hospital, she went to the apartment, only to have her worst fears confirmed. The couple had fled, taking the baby with them. Elsa only got to hold her little girl one time. But that one time was the most perfect moment in a life full of otherwise horrific ones. That one time was the fuel that sparked the fire and obsession in the woman to keep going, to fight and search until she found her daughter._

 _Everything she'd been through, from surviving Hans Gruber's snuff film, to losing Massimo, to finally losing her daughter, her only glimmer of real hope that she had left, they molded the woman and shaped her. And she vowed, from the day she was released from the hospital only to discover that her child had been stolen and that there was NOTHING she could do to fight it, no amount of legal help she could seek because the documents had all been legal and binding, they'd basically duped her into signing away her own child.. She vowed that one day, she'd find that woman and her husband and she'd make them pay and take back what rightfully belonged with her._

 _(end flashback)_

* * *

Jenny studied her birth mother in concern, she was staring off into the room as if she were lost in thought. And then her birth mother began to talk, she told her every single detail that lead up to her being taken by the Millers. By the time Elsa finished, Jenny was gaping, shocked.

"So there was nothing you could have done to get me back.. All because you were an immigrant."

"Exactly. They used my naivete about this country against me. But I had to get us out of there, Jenny." Elsa commented as she stubbed out her cigarette and then asked, "So.. How do you suppose we do this? You have school, I know."

"I go to school and straight back here. The less I'm away from here, the less likely it is that William can try something."

"That wife of his, Norma.."

"I have a feeling, Momma, that she was going to crack sooner or later.. That night after you stopped and put the down payment on the land here, she and William had one of the worst fights they've had ever. And she kept saying that she was going to go to the station, she was going to tell them everything that she couldn't take it anymore." Jenny explained.

"She's still the one who came up with this entire idea."

"I know.. I just.. I think all the guilt kept growing and adding up."

"She deserves more than just guilt."

A knock on the door cut into their conversation and a woman with a beard, Jimmy's mother, Jenny realized, peeked in.

"So this is your girl?"

"She is, yes. And she'll be staying with us. What else did you want, Ethel?"

"That Mott woman is here again." Ethel grumbled as she added, "And, we need to talk about a more grown up and personal matter.. There's someone else here, Elsa.. My ex husband."

Elsa sighed and stood, turned to her daughter and said quietly, "If you have homework, girl, you should get it done. We'll finish having our own private discussion later."

Jenny nodded and a few moments later, just as she'd settled in on the couch, started to read the history book and work on the homework for the night, Jimmy walked in, sat down.

For a few moments, Jimmy said nothing, he just looked at his hands.

Jenny felt herself being looked at a few moments later and she looked up, quietly shutting the book, looking at Jimmy in concern. "Are you okay? My mother, she told me things happened last night.."

"I'm fine, I just.."

"What?"

"I'd rather not talk about it right now, okay?" Jimmy explained quietly as he looked at the school book, looked at her bag of things and then asked, "You're gonna stay then?"

"This is home, Jimmy.. Elsa is my mother. I want the chance to know her, a chance that thanks to my adoptive parents, I had taken from me." Jenny explained quietly as she looked up, licked her lips a little. She leaned forward and straightened the collar of his chambray work shirt, staring into his eyes for a few moments.

A throat cleared from the door and they looked up to find Ethel, Jimmy's mother standing in the doorway. Ethel gave Jenny a sort of small smile, the woman was wary of pretty much any and all outsiders at first and Jimmy was her entire universe.. She fixed her eyes on Jimmy and said casually, "Let her do her schoolin. Go to the big top tent, Elsa wants us all there now."

Jimmy thought to himself for a moment, _'And naturally, I get the nerve to go for it and get interrupted or something. But it's probably for the best. I'm a freak and she's a normal but very pretty girl. She's not gonna want some freak like me. None of 'em ever do.'_ but stood and gave Jenny a smile, said casually, "I'll see ya again later."

Jenny smiled at Jimmy and nodded. She got back to reading when they'd walked out of the trailer, worrying simultaneously why the police cars had been going to her adoptive parents home earlier but too afraid to go back and face her father, the strange way he'd been acting to go and find out for herself.

And out in the big performers tent, Elsa was meeting Dell Toledo and his wife Desiree Dupree, the pair of them seemed as if they'd make interesting additions to the show's lineup. She knew Ethel wanted to keep Jimmy from his father, but she also knew that they needed more acts to make the show better, make it at least a little successful.

As she walked out of the tent, Ethel stopped her and said quietly, "This isn't a good idea."

"But we need more additions to the line up. I have to get back to my trailer, this is not up for discussion, Ethel. If he tries anything towards Jimmy.. We'll take care of it."

Ethel nodded, but she grumbled as Elsa walked away quickly and cast a look backwards at her former husband and his new wife, Desiree.

There was just something dark hanging in the air lately, the events of the night before, what Jimmy had done to protect their 'family' so to speak.. It hung heavily in the air and only increased Ethel's overall bad feeling.

She just had this feeling that things were about to get really, really bad.

* * *

Thanks to my three reviewers YellowBrickQueen and Guest for the reviews and kind words! I hope you guys enjoy this in the long run, it's just a pesky what if type thing I got while Freak Show was still in progress. Things will change a lot. But there will be a lot of the stuff from the show in here too! Should I write Maggie out? Or have her in? I hated her to be honest.

This chapter is the next day, it's also the arrival of Dell and Desiree. Lots of things happening here, hopefully it's good and no one gets confused! Enjoy, babes! This chapters mini intermission is a reader requested flashback, requested by the lovely YellowBrickQueen.

I've had one vote to leave Maggie out entirely, not counting my own opinion on the matter, of course. If you think otherwise, let me know, please? I don't wanna offend or annoy anyone.


	5. Chapter 4

F - O – U – R

* * *

 _What's Done In The Dark_

* * *

It was night time. And knowing that part of his story hinged on Norma having been taken while leaving the supermarket which logically meant that her car would be gone and not at home, William knew what he had to do.

He had to get rid of the car and he had to do it now. He drove out to the lake that wasn't far from his home and after putting a brick on the gas pedal, he watched as it soared out into the water, sputtering eventually and dying. "That's done now." he assured himself as he sipped cognac from a flask. He wiped off his mouth and turned to walk away, but movement in the woods nearby caught him by surprise.

His heart began to pound rapidly. Had someone seen him disposing of the car? He swore sharply and with shaking hands, he felt around, locating his handgun, it was in his left sport coat pocket. The rapid beating of his heart slowed for a moment, but as soon as he saw the flash of movement and the flickering lights in the distance that appeared to be coming from some sort of vehicle, he did a foolish thing and began a slow approach.

The closer he got, the more his curiousity got piqued. And he watched from a cluster of bushes a few feet away as a clown with a badly disfigured face or a really bad and scary mask added sticks to a fire. He heard the scream and he looked, raising slightly.

He saw a flash of blonde from the bus abandoned nearby, and he watched the clown as the clown made it's way towards the bus.

He gritted his teeth as more screams came and a head rolled out into the middle of the clearing, it's eyes looking up at him as if they were silently judging him. And as soon as he got the clearance to do so, he ran like hell.

What would normally take ten or fifteen minutes to walk, if not longer, that night it only took probably 8 minutes to make it from the lake back to his own house and it's safety. But what he hadn't realized, of course, was that the clown had seen him.

And the clown knew that he knew what the clown had done.

And now, the man was living in a fools paradise if he thought he was safe just because he made it home and he was still breathing.

The reverend paced his study, wondering aloud how he could go to the station and report what he'd seen without giving away how he'd seen it or what he'd been doing out past the town curfew and getting himself into some kind of rumor or something.

The simple fact of the matter was that he couldn't.

At least the clown hadn't seen him, he thought to himself as he sat down and began to read and make notes, preparing for the small sermon he'd been asked to give at the next official town meeting in a few days.

He might have thought about Jenny locked away in her room as she had been since Monday night, the thought that he'd been so wrapped up in everything else for the better part of a day and a half and he'd forgotten all about her shocked him a little and perhaps that's why the man rose and made his way into the kitchen, putting a few pieces of bread and a glass of water onto a plate. As he knocked on the door, he heard nothing in her room.

"Jenny?"

He knocked again when she didn't answer. Nothing. Angry and just having a feeling that when he opened the door he was going to find her gone, he unlocked the door and kicked it open, stepping into the room.

As he thought, Jenny was gone, the window was wide open and the word LIAR was scrawled on the mirror in bright red lipstick. The lipstick he'd specifically banned her from wearing because it made his sweet and precious innocent little girl look like a tramp.

 _And tramps didn't turn him on_ , he thought to himself deeper down, in the back of his mind.

Enraged, he went downstairs to the phone. He knew exactly what he was going to do now, he was going to call the station and report Jenny for being out past the town curfew, nevermind the fact that he'd been out past it himself not even an hour earlier.

After he'd made his call, he settled back into his office, practicing, preparing what he'd tell the cops when they arrived about Jenny and where she'd went. It had to be good, it had to be compelling enough for them to want to go straight there and bring her back here.

If not? He'd have to go and get her himself, he supposed.

And if that Mars woman tried to stop him, well.. He'd just have to fix her little red wagon.

* * *

 _My First Kiss_

* * *

She laughed, her hand went to her mouth and Jimmy put her down on her own two feet, laughing himself as Jenny said confidently, "See? I told you it's not that hard, swing dancing. And you're strong enough to lift me, that was wild.. I've never actually been able to do the lifts in that dance until now."

Jimmy bowed a little. Having Jenny around was sort of a mood lightener, he wasn't thinking about the horrible thing he'd done a night and a half ago, and they were becoming really good friends. Parts of him however, remained reserved because he just kept waiting on the other shoe to drop, he kept waiting on her to say this was all a joke, she didn't want to be his friend because he was a freak.

"Thanks." he said quietly as he coughed a little, realizing how close together they stood suddenly. Nobody was around them right now, if he wanted to go for it and kiss her, he had a golden opportunity. But he wasn't sure if it was the best idea.

Her fingers sort of walked upward slowly, she straightened the collar of his shirt, she was always doing that he noticed, and she stared up at him a few moments, this sort of shy smile on her face as if she were thinking about something but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to do whatever she was thinking about.

He remembered she was shy, shyer than most girls, a real shocker considering how bold and confident her real mother Elsa happened to be, and he said quietly, "I'm gonna do something.." as he leaned in just a little more, staring into her eyes, his heart pounding against his rib cage as he sort of pulled her up off the ground slightly because she was good two feet shorter than him, standing at only 5'0 tall, if that.

As he slid her up his body slightly, her arms sort of went around his neck, resting. He could feel her fingers playing with his hair and he bit back a groan and then asked quietly, "If I kissed ya, Jenny.."

"Shut up and kiss me already, Jimmy." Jenny muttered as she held his gaze, licked her lips slowly while her heart beat a maddening tempo against her ribcage.

His lips met her lips and clumsily at first, they kissed. But then to his surprise, her tongue slid out, danced along his lower lip slowly. He noticed that she was turning this almost pink shade all over and he asked "You're blushin."

"Probably because I haven't ever kissed a boy before.. Strict father, remember? Not to mention nobody worth kissing really caught my eye until now." Jenny answered quietly as she sort of purred when she felt his tongue slipping slowly past her own lips.

His grip tightened on her hips and before she realized it, she was sitting on the top of an old folding card table and the kiss was getting hotter, more aggressive. She could feel her lips tingling, she groaned a little as her lips parted even more and his tongue swept past again. Her tongue found and tangled with his and then the cough came from the doorway.

Dell Toledo stood in the doorway, looking at the two teenagers, arms crossed, not amused. "Your mother is looking for you, Jenny, she said something about rewriting an essay.. Jimmy, you should be getting into your trailer."

Jimmy scowled at the man and as Dell turned and walked out, he caught his breath from the kisses just now and leaned in, his forehead meeting hers. Her fingers trailed around his clawed fingers and he stole another quick kiss. "You need to go to sleep."

"Ughh, I know. School."

"Hey, one of us has to be smart, doll." Jimmy teased gently, his fingertips lingering on the bridge of her nose for a moment as he held her gaze.

Hearing her mother calling her name, Jenny sighed and smiled a little, slid off the tabletop and called out, "Coming, Momma." before turning back and just staring at Jimmy a few moments while her teeth grazed her tingling and kiss swollen lips.

"I'll miss you tomorrow, Jimmy." she said finally, sort of skipping out the tent's opening.

Jimmy smirked a little as he stood there in the darkness, thinking about what just happened, the way he kissed her and she kissed back, she seemed to want him to kiss her.

He walked into the trailer he shared with his mother, Ethel and Ethel looked at her currently dazed son a few moments, shaking her head, giving a small laugh. "The girl's not so bad, I suppose. She's real quiet."

Jimmy nodded and turned, stared out the window of their trailer at the one light still on in Elsa Mars trailer as he smiled to himself again and muttered, "Wasn't just your first kiss, Jenny.. It was kinda my first real kiss.. Not countin the dames at the Tupperware parties because they don't count. They never counted."

He flopped back across his bed and squeezed his eyes shut. He had to sleep soon. Maybe he'd be able to tonight without the nightmares of what he'd done.

* * *

 _Mother Daughter Moments_

* * *

Jenny practically floated through the door of the trailer and flopped.. Well, if Elsa had to be quite honest, she didn't flop down, she sort of swooned onto the velveteen sofa in the sitting area of their trailer. Very few things made a girl behave like Elsa noticed that her daughter seemed to be behaving and she laughed aloud, remarked casually, "So.. I'm taking your floating in here, girl, to mean that Jimmy Darling kissed you earlier?" as she held her daughter's gaze a few moments, finished applying the cold cream to her face before patting the space next to her on the bench in front of her lighted vanity table and saying with a softer grin, "Sit, girl.. Tell Momma all about it." as she waited on Jenny to sit down.

Jenny blushed an almost scarlet red and moved to sit on the bench beside her mother as Elsa picked up a hair brush, started to brush her hair. After a few moments, Jenny smiled and said in this quietly dream like voice, "He did kiss me. And it was like I saw fireworks, everything just sort of got brighter or something. But I got nothing to compare it to. I mean that was my first kiss." Jenny admitted quietly, the blush in her cheeks going even deeper as she spoke the words. She'd sort of gathered after spending the past day and a half in her real mother's care that her real mother was definitely a woman with lots and lots of experience in pretty much everything.

Elsa laughed a little and then said in a more motherly tone of voice, "That's good. I mean that you're seventeen and only just getting a kiss from a boy. I rushed right into being a woman, girl, look where the hell it's gotten me." as she slowly trailed the silver brush through her daughter's long blonde hair and remarked, "We should get those bangs trimmed."

"They are sort of starting to flop down into my eye." Jenny mused aloud as she asked quietly, "You're not mad.. Right? Because Jimmy and I kissed?"

" Who you kiss, girl, is your business. But I'm happy that it wasn't that Mott boy." Elsa admitted, shivering.

Dandy's mother had been by yet again, trying to buy the Tattler twins. And as badly as they needed the money, Elsa was slightly more than tempted to sell them. But she hadn't yet. And she was trying like hell to avoid having to do that very thing.

"Dandy? Eww, momma, gross. That's just.. That's wrong?" Jenny blurted, mother and daughter sharing a laugh for a moment as Elsa said quietly, "You turned out as beautiful as I hoped you would, girl. And I have enjoyed having you here since you showed up on Monday. This is home, always."

"I know."

"If that pig William shows up, Jenny, we'll keep him from taking you back with him. Understood?" Elsa asked her daughter, holding Jenny's gaze in the mirror in front of them a few moments.

"Mhmm." Jenny answered, smiling a little.

Things here, with her real mother.. They just felt more real, she didn't feel like she had to be something she really might not be. That she could just be herself and not have to worry about angering her adoptive father or the strange and creepy ways he tended to look at her most of the time lately.

Elsa smiled and then pointed out, "You need to rewrite that essay. Because yes, you are going to keep going to school. You're gonna be Mom's little teacher or nurse. None of this.." Elsa gestured to the tent and trailer outside the window that the vanity table sat in front of, "For my girl."

Jenny nodded.

"Jimmy can take you to school in the morning. But you are going straight there."

Elsa watched her daughter rewriting an essay quietly and smiled a little to herself.

Let that William come and try to take her daughter away a second time. Elsa wasn't the same girl she'd been back then. Elsa was older and wiser. Elsa was much colder now and she wouldn't hesitate to do whatever it was that she had to do to keep that man from getting his hands on her child a second time.

* * *

Thanks to my five reviews from both YellowBrickQueen and Guest for the reviews and kind words! I hope you guys enjoy this in the long run, it's just a pesky what if type thing I got while Freak Show was still in progress. Things will change a lot. But there will be a lot of the stuff from the show in here too!

 **IT'S OFFICIAL. I WILL BE LEAVING MAGGIE OUT BUT STANLEY IS STILL IN. I HAVE A PLAN, LADIES AND GENTS.**

Okay, so this chapter takes place BEFORE both Massacres & Matinees and Edward Mordrake Pts 1 & 2\. It's sort of filler/insertion of my own slightly altered plot too. Since Maggie is out, obviously, Jimmy will have a happier go of things, aside from the things that happen in the timeline that I choose not to take out or change. Any questions so far? No? Good, great.

Obviously, William has seen Twisty The Clown and has discovered that Jenny ran away from home. Yes, for those of you curious, William is batshit crazy. He's always been batshit crazy too, he's just very good at hiding it until now. Between the guilt of what he's done to Norma and his less than fatherly feelings for the daughter he stole, yeah.. It's safe to say that sooner or later, somehow, he will be getting his.

Dell Toledo makes an appearance in this chapter because a scene between him and Jimmy from the show touched me and I'm sort of toying with at least giving the guy a few very small moments where he has to stop and acknowledge his son and wish he'd done things differently.

And I went a little details heavy on the description of Jenny's first actual kiss and Jimmy's first wanted kiss. :) Enjoy, babes. They're sort of an 'almost couple'.. Like they're not there yet.. But it's happening soonish.


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